REVIEW: The Mistress

Title: The Mistress

Director: Olivia Lamasan

Producer: Star Cinema

Distribution: Star Cinema

Date of premiere: September 12, 2012

There is no excuse for a highly-anticipated big-budgeted mainstream production from top-tier studio Star Cinema to have a lot of glitches. But maybe, the film's post-prod had just been rushed and did not care for quality control. The film is more than two hours long, after all.

The Mistress tells the story of Sari (Bea Alonzo), an aspiring  and  dressmaker who works hard to support her large family. On the side, she augments her income by being the mistress of a rich businessman twice her age. But it's not her choice, she says, because she's just highly-appreciative of the help Rico-the-businessman (Ronaldo Valdez) has given her in the past. She's a good girl, she says.

One day, she meets JD (John Lloyd Cruz), a hotshot playboy drop-dead-gorgeous architect. JD tries all the ways to let her fall into his arms, chanting repeatedly: makukuha rin kita (I will get you). But Sari is not free, so JD must be content in pestering her.

That is until JD learns that Sari is the mistress of Rico, the father he knows and despises. JD tries to be angry at Sari, but her good-girl ways acquit her in JD's heart. JD continues to try courting her, if only to save her from that dad whom he deeply hates.

This amazing setpiece should be homerun for director Olivia Lamasan. There could be fun campy confrontation scenes a-la blockbuster hit No Other Woman. There could be lines that people utter as they go out of the cinema. 

Sadly, Lamasan failed to capitalize on this. While the absence of the campy confrontation scenes can be forgiven, given that the low-key dramatic approach works better since it makes the scenes simmer, the lack of crisp memorable lines is unforgivable. The lines are corny and sometimes cringe-inducing, as attested to the main line uttered again and again. Hearing "Hindi lahat ng gusto mo, makukuha mo (You cannot get everything that you want)" again and again is taxing to the ears. We get it. Please stop.

The other aspects of production are also not that high. The scoring is as tacky and as loud as elevator music, and the soundtrack chosen is a tough gamble. Watching the main characters make love to Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars is funny it had me giggling.

It needs a softer song, with less bass. Would it hurt to compose one just for the film?

Cinematography is also as weak. Some shots are underlit, while some shots are too bright. In one scene where Hilda Koronel was supposed to be drunk, the lighting had her skin look too pale, like she's sick. Intoxicated people should be flushed red.

And, as previously stated, post production is shoddy and seems rushed. The version I saw in Shangri-La Plaza Mall had three (or more) editing gaffes, where a snapshot of a scene sneaks in inside another scene for a micro-second. There are also continuity goofs--the most memorable is one where Bea Alonzo is washing the windows, and the bubbles magically disappear. In another, Hilda Koronel was fidgeting with her purse laid on a table. The purse disappears when she stands up to go somewhere.

But The Mistress is not an overall failure. The performance of the cast more than saves the movie.

They're good, except maybe the kid. Anita Linda is
not in this photo, but she's a great diversion.

In this movie, John Lloyd Cruz was cast against type. He's not anymore the Mr. Nice Guy. He's now an asshole who will do anything to get any woman. And although the characterization disappears halfway to the film, it's still fun to see JLC navigate the character.

Bea Alonzo, on the other hand, plays the long-suffering kind woman she usually plays, so it's not surprising that she nails it. 

Scenes with Bea and John Lloyd in them are so affecting that it compels you to stay in your seat for two hours to see how their characters' stories end. You might even shed a tear or two.

Exiting the theater, I heard a woman behind me say: "Ang dami kong iyak dito (I cried a lot in this movie)." If you'd like to get lost in a movie for two hours to cry your eyes out, then this movie is for you. But if you're thinking you'd want to see it because it may be as good or better than the perfect perfect perfect One More Chance, then you'll have to think twice.

The Mistress is not stellar, but darami ang iyak mo rito.

RATING: 2.5 stars out of 5

SUMMARY: Shoddy production values keep The Mistress from being perfect. See it for the actors.

ADDITIONAL: Want to read a deeper analysis of this film? Go here. It's right-on, although it's a (non)review.